The New Chauffeur
by repmetsyrrah
Summary: 3x05 AU. "It was ridiculous. He knew it. She loved him before he was a journalist, she loved him now he wasn't. She wouldn't leave him over this." Sybil and Tom make an unexpected announcement about their plans for their future.


This fic was inspired by a moment in piperholmes' wonderful fic, _Strip_. If you've read that (and you should), you'll see how.

Thanks to babageneush for the beta.

**The New Chauffeur**

* * *

"Are the two of you going to tell us or shall we wait in suspense for another course?"

Sybil and Tom both looked up in confusion at the sound of Mary's voice to find the eldest Crawley sister looking expectantly at them.

"Don't look at me like that," she told them, raising her eyebrows. "You've been exchanging significant glances the entire night. Clearly there's something you've got to say."

Sybil moved first, placing her knife and fork down and giving her family her full attention. She took a breath and stopped, not sure how to break the news.

Mary gave her a questioning look and she decided to simply get it over with.

"We're moving out."

"What?"

"We're leaving Downton," her husband repeated for her. "We never wanted to stay here any longer than we must. You've been so generous and please don't ever doubt how grateful we are but… we don't belong here."

Robert rolled his eyes and turned straight to his daughter who sighed.

"Papa, I love you," Sybil told him. "I love all of you. But that doesn't mean I want to live here forever. It doesn't mean I want my daughter to grow up here. We want our own lives."

"The life I've provided for you isn't good enou-"

"Robert," Cora interrupted with a stern look. "Tom and Sybil are adults, it is not for us to dictate what they do with their lives, nor that of _their_ daughter."

Lord Grantham looked surprised to be reprimanded so publicly. Tom wished he could find some satisfaction in the moment but it was somewhat overshadowed by the knowledge that in a few minutes nothing would contain the man's disapproval and anger.

"Personally, I'll say congratulations," Matthew spoke up then, smiling and nodding towards his brother-in-law. "As I take it this means you've found a job?"

"I have."

He hesitated, unsure how to continue. The entire room was staring at him and waiting. He looked to his wife, who gave him an encouraging smile.

He took a breath and decided to just get it over with. "I've found work with a family in Manchester. As their chauffeur."

* * *

_The letter shook in his hand._

_It was ridiculous. _

_He knew it. She loved him before he was a journalist, she loved him now he wasn't. She wouldn't leave him over this._

_He'd finally succeeded in what he'd been trying so hard for, a way out of Downton, and yet… He was afraid that it would seem like a failure to her because he'd found what he wanted, a job, but not in the place they had hoped._

"We're not going backwards, you must promise me that."

_She had been talking about working as a mechanic then, what would she say about his becoming a servant? Even if the pay was better and steadier than his brother could offer it was still not anything they had discussed._

_He jumped when the door opened and she came in, refreshed from her walk with her sisters._

"_I passed Nanny on the way up she says Saoirse's still asleep so I'll go see her later and…" she trailed off, noticing his expression. "Is everything alright?" _

"_I…"_

_He thrust the letter out to her, not sure how she would react._

_She looked surprised but took it from him, reading silently for a few moments before looking back up._

"_You didn't tell me you went for an interview," she said, her tone =._

"_I went last week, when Matthew and I went up. I said I was visiting a friend…"_

_She sat down beside him._

"_Are you going to take it?"_

_He turned to her, suddenly desperate to make her understand. To make her see this wasn't a failure. It wasn't what he had promised her, but it wasn't the nothing he had now._

"_Love, for me, getting a job as a chauffeur was a huge step up. I came from less than nothing. I've worked since I was 10, I've had it so ingrained into me I feel lost without something to do every day. I know you say this is a step backwards but for me… but I'm a husband and father who can't support his family."_

_He slipped off the bed to kneel in front of her, begging her understanding as he took her hands in his, the letter falling onto the bed._

"_The truth is, I can't fall any further than where I am right now."_

_Sybil looked down at the letter beside her for a long while and Tom felt his heart sinking. He had disappointed her._

"_I'm so sorry."_

_He looked up, surprised to see her own eyes wet with tears as she looked down at him. _

"_Tom, I am _so_ sorry if I made you feel I would think less of you for taking a job working with cars again."_

"_Sybil…"_

"_Tell them yes."_

_Tom blinked, finding himself lost for words for a moment._

"_Are you sure? You won't mind being a chauffeur's wife?" _

_Sybil laughed. "You were a chauffeur when I agreed to marry you," she reminded him. "This isn't a step back, I _never_ should have said that."_

"_Well, you were distracted at the time."_

_Sybil smiled and leaned forward to kiss him. "You do think too well of me sometimes, you know?" _

"_Impossible."_

_She laughed and shook her head._

"_Tom, whether you're washing off ink or motor oil when you come home, you will always be the same man I fell in love with." she told him softly. "You will still have the same passion and kindness. You will always be my darling husband."_

"_Could I ask one thing?" she asked after a moment, when they had separated._

"_Anything." _

_What could he deny her after that?_

"_Don't stop writing." Tom opened his mouth but Sybil stopped him with a finger to his lips. "Even if it's only letters to the editor. Because you were_ happy_ doing that, and that's all I want for you."_

"_Okay, so long as you don't give up on your nursing either."_

"_It's a deal," she promised him, sealing it with a kiss. "So, tell me about it."_

_Tom smiled, wondering what good he had ever done to deserve her._

"_There's a cottage. It's a little bigger than the one here and they're more than happy for the chauffeur's wife and daughter to live with him." _

_Sybil smiled. "It sounds lovely."_

* * *

"You _can't_ be serious."

Predictably it was Robert who broke the stunned silence.

"I am, completely." Tom didn't flinch as he met the other man's furious gaze. "I start Monday week."

"But-" The other man looked genuinely confused. "You've moved on from that."

It was a surprisingly diplomatic statement for her father. But Sybil knew that wasn't saying much.

"I've moved, certainly" Tom agreed. "But it may shock you to learn, that not all people find _unemployment_ a step in the right direction."

"You're hardly desperate for a job. You could wait."

They hadn't expected anyone to support them, yet even so, Sybil could see that Matthew's suggestion hurt his brother-in-law. For all they were friends Matthew would never understand the world Tom had been brought up in.

But unlike her cousin, Sybil knew very well that a man didn't need to be starving to be desperate. She was almost surprised no one had noticed the change in Tom's demeanour since he'd gotten the letter. He had a purpose again. He was going to be able to provide for his family properly, without the help of an English Lord who represented a system neither of them agreed with.

"We've been talking it over between us," Sybil said firmly and quietly, bringing everyone's attention to herself. "And to tell you the truth, we're both looking forward to it."

She was rewarded with a heartbreakingly grateful smile from the other side of the table.

"Where will you be living?" Cora asked tentatively, trying to sound neutral, though her creased brow gave her away.

"There's a cottage by the garage, like Downton," Tom informed her. "It's even a little bigger than our flat in Dublin."

"And you'll be living there too?" Cora turned her gaze to her daughter, horrified.

"Of course." Sybil nodded. "They're more than happy for Tom's family to live with him."

"I don't suppose they're aware said wife is the daughter of an Earl."

Her father's aggressive tone came as no surprise. For all he treated them well, servants were a lower class than him and his family. No doubt he found it an insult to everything he had been brought up to believe he deserved to hear that his daughter would be living as one of them.

"Actually," she replied, "they are."

"And they're okay with this?" Now he really did look as if the world had gone mad.

"They're American," Tom explained, "they have money but no interest in the aristocracy or Society. They simply need a chauffeur."

"They're really fine with a Lady living in the servants' quarters?"

"We've a cottage," Tom repeated, "and yes, as Sybil just told you, they are fine with it."

"I can't believe that. Maybe-"

"_Papa,_" Sybil interrupted, with a sudden flare of irritation. "You can protest all you want but it won't make any difference."

Her father stared at her for a moment before looking away and picking up his drink.

"Anyway," Sybil continued, smiling at the rest of the family, "we'll be catching the train on Saturday so we can be there and settle in before Tom has to start."

"Well," Mary said, forcing a smile, "we'd best make the most of your company while we still can."

Sybil smiled back but managed to catch Tom's eye across the table. He looked relieved the news was finally out but with the tense mood unlikely to change, Sybil knew it would be even more of a relief when they finally moved to their new home.

* * *

"What do you think, then?"

"Well, there's more than one perk to this job I see." Sybil smiled as she looked at her husband in his new uniform. Though new seemed an odd word as, with some small exceptions, the livery was almost identical to what he had worn at Downton. "You look very handsome."

Tom smiled.

The matter had been far from settled after the dinner at which they had announced the news, but they had become used to fighting her family for their right to live their own lives and in the end, the Bransons' determination had remained solid and they had held true to their promise that nothing would change their minds.

At every objection they had simply reminded them that they were two fully-grown adults who were very grateful for their help the past few month but were more than capable, and ready, to have their own lives again.

The cottage had been furnished but they had spent the two days before Tom was due to start making it into a home. It was funny in a way, how much freer they felt in the small cottage, away from the vast, suffocating expanse of Downton.

She felt like she could breathe again. And if the near-permanent smile on her husband's face was anything to judge by, he did too.

"I'd best be off then." He picked up his hat and moved to kiss her goodbye. "Iit wouldn't do to be tardy on the first day."

"I might take Saoirse out to see the town while you're gone," Sybil told him, "so don't worry if you come back and we're not here."

"Will you look in at the hospital?"

"I might, though Isobel said I'd have some work convincing them to let a married woman even volunteer. Especially one with a child."

"If anyone can do it, you can."

Sybil kissed him again, suddenly realising for all her joy at finding work again, she was going to miss him now he would be away most of the day. "Would you like me to organise a paper too?"

"If you've the time." He grinned. "After all, I won't always be a chauffeur."

Sybil smiled at the memory but before he could turn away she lifted a hand to his cheek and kept him a moment. "Even if you are,"she assured him, "there's not a day I won't spend knowing I'm the luckiest woman in the world to be your wife."

Tom closed his eyes for a moment, lifting his hand to cover hers before turning his head to place a kiss on her palm. "There's not a single moment in my life I wonder what I did to deserve you," he said softly, moving his arms around her to pull her close.

In the end he managed to make it on time. But only just.


End file.
